I'm sure you've loaded a compressor plug-in in your DAW and thought,
"What on Earth do all those buttons do..."
Let’s figure it out together.
First off, let’s talk about the threshold and the ratio.
Threshold
The threshold sets the level for where the compressor should start listening to the audio signal.
If the audio is very low in level and the threshold is too high, it won’t hear the signal, so it will effectively be
useless.
Any other parameter doesn’t matter because the compressor doesn’t start working until the audio hits the threshold.
Ratio
This is the “amount of
compression.”
So if you have a specific level go over the threshold and the ratio is 2:1 then it will divide the amount that goes over the threshold in half and compress it down by two.
So the higher the ratio, the more extreme the compression. 10:1 and higher is usually called limiting because any signal over the threshold gets compressed so hard that it gets pushed down to where the threshold sits instead of letting some of it
through.
Ok, so basically these two parameters work in tandem. Many compressors only have these parameters and nothing else. Use them when you want to give your track its specific character and color.
Now, let’s check out the next set of knobs here, the attack and release.
Attack
This is the amount of time you give the compressor before it reacts to the incoming signal after it reaches the
threshold. If the attack is fast, it’ll compress immediately after reaching the threshold.
If the attack is slower, it will take a minute to react. Picking the right attack time is crucial for shaping sounds because it
can change the way the transients of the audio signal is affected.
Release
This is the opposite. It's the time it takes for the compressor to stop compressing.
Faster release
times means faster recovery time for the compressor. Longer release times means it keeps the signal compressed for longer, which can result in pumping with very rhythmic signals because the audio is never allowed to go back to its initial uncompressed audio.
You may find a few more buttons on certain compressor, like Knee, Make-up Gain, and a Wet/Dry Mix knob, but those four parameters are the most important ones to understand if you want to master compression.
Remember, knowing what the buttons do is a great start, but if you want to know how they all work together to create better mixes, I walk you through the whole compression process inside the Mix Finisher Formula program right here:
www.MixFinisherFormula.com
Looking forward to seeing you in
there!